Disclosure

THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE REALITY OF BEING ON THE INTERNET AND THE PEOPLE YOU MEET. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT REAL THINGS THAT HAPPEN.1

Amy was playing with her new puppy Dagger, on the hillside about two blocks from where she resided.2

'Come on Dagger,' she said as she smiled and tapped her hands on her lap directing Dagger to come towards her. Amy wanted to go home. She picked Dagger up in her arms and held him tightly as she walked down the hillside to the first block.3

Amy was a beautiful girl with long brown hair and brown eyes. She was a very good student in school and got straight A's. This was the only way that her parents, Julie and Donald, would allow her to stay on the track team. Amy knew a lot of people and was very social.4

Amy continued walking until she came to her driveway and decided that she would bring the mail in for her mother. She put Dagger down and reached into the mailbox to get the mail.5

'Come on Dagger,' she said as she walked up the steps to enter her pink two story house. 6

Dagger tumbled inside and rolled over.7

'Mom, I got the mail for you' yelled Amy as she grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and walked upstairs to her bedroom.8

Amy pulled out her computer chair and took a seat as she took a bite into her apple.9

She logged into her America on-line account and put her AOL instant messenger up to see if any of her on-line buddies were on. She just wanted to relax for a little bit and talk to her friends.10

GONEFISHIN12: Hello, my name is Sawyer from Denver Colorado. I'm 19 years old. Do you wanna chat?11

ACUTGIRL4U: Sure, I'm Amy from Nashville Tennessee and I'm 17.12

GONEFISHIN12: Cool, it's nice to meet you Amy.13

ACUTEGIRL4U: You too.14

GONEFISHIN12: So, have you lived in Tennessee your whole life?15

ACUTEGIRL4U: Yeah, my parents have really good jobs here so they will probably always live here. I like it here too. It's my home!16

GONEFISHIN12: I know how that is. I still live with my parents but they usually let me do whatever I want for the most part.17

ACUTEGIRL4U: I wish my parents were like that. My grades in school reflect on where I get to go and who I can hang out with and all that. I hate it.18

GONEFISHIN12: What school do you go too?19

ACUTEGIRL4U: I go to Alcoa High school. You?20

GONEFISHIN12: Well, I'm home schooled.21

ACUTEGIRL4U: That must be nice to be home schooled.22

GONEFISHIN12: Yeah, it is. It gives me more time to spend at the pool haul where I work. I work about 45 hours a week and I also have my own on-line business that I run.23

ACUTEGIRL4U: Oh neat! I like to play pool too. I just don't get to do it often because I'm so busy with school and I just got a new puppy so I'm busy with him too.24

GONEFISHIN12: Cool, I also like to do other things, like go fishing, but you probably new that by my screen name! LOL25

ACUTEGIRL4U: Fishing is cool too. I have only been fishing once though and that was when I was younger. I don't really remember it. I'm on the track team in school also so I don't really have time to go fishing. I love to run.26

GONEFISHIN12: Yeah, I know what you mean. I run sometimes to get exercise, but that's about it. Other than that, I'm really busy like you and don't have time for myself as much as I would like. So, do you have a boyfriend?27

ACUTEGIRL4U: Nope, I'm living the single life right now. You?28

GONEFISHIN12: I have a girlfriend. Her name is Amber but I think I'm going to break up with her because my buddy Jason told me that she is cheating on me. I asked her about it but she said that she loved me and would never do something like that. I've been with her for three months so I don't really know what I'm going to do yet.29

ACUTEGIRL4U: I know how that is because my ex boyfriend Cody cheated on me and I caught him in the act by myself. I really cared about him and I was so hurt. I guess we just weren't meant to be. You know what I mean?30

GONEFISHIN12: Well, If you ever need to talk about it, let me know. I will listen.31

ACUTEGIRL4U: Thanks and I will listen to you too if you ever need to get something off your chest.32

GONEFISHIN12:33

'Amy!' yelled her mother from downstairs. 'What are you doing? Can you help me set the table for dinner?' she asked.34

'Yes mom! I will be right there. ' yelled Amy from the top of her lungs, making sure that her mother could hear her.35

ACUTEGIRL4U: Hey, I have to go set the table for dinner but add me to your buddy list and we will talk again soon, okay?36

GONEFISHIN12: All right, you have a good night Amy. It was nice talking to you.37

Amy shut off her computer and threw her apple core into the trash. She walked downstairs to see her mother cooking dinner.38

'Hows your puppy?' asked Amy's mother.39

'Good, I took him to the hillside earlier and played with him for a little bit. He is so playful and energetic' said Amy as she placed the silverware on the table where it belonged.40

'Hey daddy!' Amy said as her dad walked through the kitchen.41

'Hey pumpkin!' he said.42

They all sat down at the dinner table to eat their meal. No one spoke during dinner time. To them, dinner was a time to eat and relax with no interruptions.43

The phone rang. Amy scooted her chair back and went to reach for the phone. She picked up the receiver and said 'Hello?'44

'Hey Amy, this is Coach Roberson'45

'Oh, hi coach' said Amy.46

' I was just calling to tell you that our track meet is cancelled for tomorrow afternoon. My daughter was in a car accident and I need to be at the hospital. I don't have any of the other team member's phone numbers. They are in my information book at the school. I would appreciate it if you would tell them all in school tomorrow.'47

'Oh sure. I'm sorry about your daughter. I will pray for her. I will try and do whatever I can to keep our team together while you are gone.48

' Thanks Amy!' said coach Roberson.49

' You take care now' said Amy.50

Amy hung up the phone and sat back down to complete her dinner.51

' What was that all?' asked Amy's mother.52

' Coach Roberson's daughter was in a car accident and is not able to be at the track meet tomorrow. He cancelled but he wants me to tell all the other track team members because he doesn't have any of their phone numbers. He left them at the school.' said Amy as she frowned.53

'Oh, I'm sorry hunny' said Amy's father as he placed his hand on hers.54

Amy scraped the remaining food off her plate and tossed it into the garbage can. She placed her dishes in the sink and ran upstairs with tears rolling down her face.55

Amy's parents looked at each other and knew that Amy was upset.56

Amy ran into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She logged onto America on-line to find Sawyer, her new friend still on.57

ACUTEGIRL4U: My coach cancelled our track meet for tomorrow so  I have to gather all the girls up and try to keep the team together before my coach gets back.58

GONEFISHIN12: I'm sorry to hear that. Where are you going to have your friends meet you? The school?59

ACUTEGIRL4U: No, I'm going to have them meet me at Baskin Robins where coach always takes us to treat us out when he is in one of those extra good moods. It's only ten minutes from where I live.60

GONEFISHIN12: Well, you be careful and don't stress too much about it. I have to run a few errands for my parents. I will be back on tomorrow afternoon. Okay?61

ACUTEGIRL4U: Okay, talk to you later. Bye!62

GONEFISHIN12: Bye Amy!63

Amy saw that Sawyer logged off but she was happy to have someone to talk too. She had all her good friends on her track team to talk to but they were always so busy running, that she never had the chance to ever talk to any of them about personal things.64

The next day at school Amy told the whole track team to meet her at Baskin Robin's and everyone agreed. The rest of the day was normal for her.65

School ended at 2:50 PM and the whole track team met where they were supposed too. Amy ordered a double fudge brownie ice cream in a cup. That had always been her favorite. She told her track team that she would go find a booth to sit in so she did.66

Amy got cold so she decided to put on her sweat shirt that was tied around her waist. She looked up to notice a man sitting at the table to the right of her. He was wearing a blue baseball cap and a really long black leather coat. Longer than a usual coat and he was starring at the floor.67

Amy didn't think anything of it. After all her friends on the track team ordered what they wanted they all sat down and got comfortable. They started to talk about coach Roberson's daughter.68

' Amy, how did you hear about coach's daughter anyway' asked Sheila as she took a bite out of her banana split.69

Sheila was Amy's best friend out of them all. Sheila and Amy had known each other for a really long time and joined the track team together. 70

When Sheila said the name 'Amy' Amy noticed that the man sitting to the right of her lifted his head up fast and just stared.71

' Umm, he called me and told me' Amy said in a soft voice.72

Next thing everyone knew, people were screaming and running as fast as they could. Bullets were being shot in every direction and Amy had already seen three people to the ground unconscious. Sheila was one of them. Everyone was startled and a lot of people were ducked under neath the tables.73

The man walked up to Amy and held her in his arms while he covered her mouth with his hand.74

' Nice to meet you Amy, I'm Sawyer.' he said.75

Amy's eyes bulged out of her head. She could not believe that this was happening. The man shoved Amy onto the hard tile floor and pointed his gun at her. Amy was scared. She didn't know what to do. She had never been in a situation like this before. The only thing she could do was cover up her face, close her eyes and hope for the best.76

She heard police sirens and than she heard the click of the gun. The man had tried to shoot her but there were no more bullets in the gun.77

The man ran out of the door realizing that someone had called the police. Thankfully, he was captured and received five years in prison. 78

Amy now has to live with knowing that the death of her best friend was her fault all because she trusted someone too easily over the Internet and gave someone her information. Amy is lucky to be alive. One second sooner and Amy would have been dead. Now she no longer has the Internet and doesn't trust anyone. She lives in guilt knowing that her best friend is dead all because of her stupid mistakes but she does know that Amy is in a better place and is watching over her.79

Amy is no longer on the track team. It was too hard for her after Sheila's death. She does keep in touch with everyone on the team though and things have gotten a lot better with the coach. Amy is now 19 years old and has joined an organization to help keep people from pretending to be someone else over the Internet.80